can a show still be referred to as of the best ever even tho some of the seasons are awful?

Submitted by Constant-Car-8796 t3_119v24w in television

the 2 best examples are twd and got

twd has like 7 iconic seasons but the other 4 seasons are either mid or awful(especially season8)

game of thrones has also 6 amazing seasons but the last 2 were awful especially the last one being one of the worst seasons ever

Even tho they may have higher peaks but isn’t it unfair to ignore the fact that these shows have some awful seasons but still get compared to some (almost) perfect tv shows out there(like sopranos,breaking bad,bojack,peaky blinders..)

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theonlyone38 t1_j9o5r4p wrote

I think so. I think The Killing was an amazing show for its first season, and everything after that was terrible. Like you could see how the constant string of being cancelled and revived really hurt that show.

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remmanuelv t1_j9o6jqf wrote

TWD is a very popular show but I haven't really seen it in the conversation of Best show ever™ even during it's heyday.

GOT lost all claim to the title though a few of the seasons run for Best season ever™.

I can take a mid season if the rest is amazing and argue in favor of it (The Wire), but not two bad seasons, specially near the end when its Quality is even more important than at the start.

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mickeyflinn t1_j9o8ffr wrote

Anyone can call any show the best show ever. Doesn't mean you have to agree with them. Anyone who thinks TWD is the best show ever has terrible tastes.

With that said, it is very rare to find a show that does not have a bad season. The Wire is in my top five best shows ever and the fifth season was such a dud, same with Friday Night Lights.

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BreakingBadfinger t1_j9o8mrh wrote

I wouldn't personally. I think the show would have to keep me engaged all the way through for me to consider it one of the best. I do think GOT is one of the best ever though. I wouldn't describe any season as awful. The last season was disappointing sure, but I still enjoyed it.

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jogoso2014 t1_j9oakby wrote

It depends on who says it’s the best show ever.

I would never consider TWD one of the best shows ever and GOT woikd be.

While the seasons got worse (7 is worse than 8 imo)I never thought any of them were awful and I was fully invested in the show until the end.

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Koboldsftw t1_j9obpug wrote

It can be referred to as mother if you want

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the_npc_man t1_j9oc82j wrote

There is no objective way to judge a show, so feel free to refer to a show however you like

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EggheadWill t1_j9oewtz wrote

I think a show can be argued If the bad season(s) is(are) toward the middle ( for a drama, comedies almost always end with less quality toward the end). If it's at the end, the show seems to lose it's gravitas (see Dexter)

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theyusedthelamppost t1_j9onm4y wrote

I can still put TWD in the all time top 10 even though it sagged in parts.

But not GoT. It wasn't just a bad ending, it was an ending that retroactively ruined the rest of the series. If we could just judge it on S1-6, it'd be a top 5 show. But as it stands, it's below average; not even worth watching.

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Fthewigg t1_j9os4yn wrote

I hate the last season of The Wire. It’s still one of the best (top five), but without that last season it’s probably the best for me.

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KingBee t1_j9ov0nk wrote

Better examples of this IMO are True Detective and Westworld.

And to me the answer is no. While season 1s of both are among the best single seasons of television, you cannot ignore the following seasons and it affects how we think and talk about the show in hindsight, and how we approach recommending it to freinds and rewatches. I couldnt even vote for them on the recent r/television survey because of this.

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unitedfan6191 t1_j9owsmg wrote

Awful’s often subjective. What’s considered awful by one person is considered decent by another. It depends on one’s tolerance levels.

An example is The Office.

Seasons 2-7 are among the greatest TV show seasons ever produced and written, but I wouldn’t call season 8 a hugely chasm-sized drop off (it’s solid, imo) and even season 9 has its moments, but both seasons definitely drop the quality a few rungs lower on the ladder compared to the show’s peak years.

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josephiev t1_j9p0ucs wrote

Yes, and the most obvious example is probably The Simpsons. Highly influential, critically acclaimed, and remembered fondly for its first ~10 seasons, and the mediocre rest of its run doesn't seem to diminish its original impact or most peoples' respect for it.

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misterjoego t1_j9qpb5u wrote

I would never dismiss an entire show because of a bad season (or even a bad series finale). If you loved the show, then love the show, but I can't see suddenly hating everything because of a season that wasn't good.

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WhatsIsMyName t1_j9qrr54 wrote

Replying to BreakingBadfinger (#1,936,547)

I’d argue the McNulty fake serial killer plot line was pretty mid. But it did give us that scene when they are profiling the killer and perfectly describe McNulty 😂

Generally small gripe for the GOAT show though. And I have grown to really like season 2.

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WhatsIsMyName t1_j9qs510 wrote

Replying to mickeyflinn (#1,936,515)

The fifth season of The Wire wasn’t that bad, just in comparison to the brilliance of the earlier seasons.

FNL is so underrated too.

I’d argue Breaking Bad has no bad seasons and only improves with each new season. Maybe you could argue Season 4 was the peak but they stuck the landing so hard in season 5 I dunno.

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WhatsIsMyName t1_j9qsi23 wrote

Replying to theonlyone38 (#1,936,222)

Ok I loved the killing. Season one was amazing. Then it kinda fell off a bit.

But then Netflix bought it and they had that plot about the boys school kid getting bullied into a group jerk off frenzy that culminated with him killing his mother….and yea…sounds ridiculous to even say. Was not good.

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Yesnowyeah22 t1_j9s0szv wrote

TWD nowhere close. 1st season was great yeah. GOT close even with two bad season at the end.

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Lil_Mcgee t1_j9sbplb wrote

Replying to Professional_Mobile5 (#1,948,009)

The Wire season 5 is a real mixed bag for me. The parts that are good are as good as ever but the serial killer plotline is very silly and the journalism stuff just isn't all that engaging, I really think they should have ended the trend of introducing new institutions every season and just focus on tying up all the plotlines that had already been established.

The ending is still very satisfying and makes up for the messy jog to finish line to a large extent but it's still disappointing that the final season is so much less tight than the rest.

Season 2 is excellent and just as good as 1-4, I struggle to rank them above one another.

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BjornBeetleBorg t1_j9sf3wm wrote

Simpsons is a top 5 show all time and they have bad seasons

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HuntForBlueSeptember t1_ja8ol1u wrote

Last season of GoT basically killed off any interest in the entire universe.

I couldn't give a shit about House of Dragons because it all ends up with Catelyn's shitty kids on thrones they dont deserve.

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